Patio area underneath trees

I'm about to erect a 10ftx12ft wooden pergola with paving (stonemarket 'truslate') beneath, between 2 large oak trees, and surrounded by a wooded area in a garden. The oak trees span approx 5m (pic attached for better reference). Something's been bugging me about this, and it finally slammed into my head late last night ----- will the tree roots lift or damage the paving and/or the pergola itself.Would really appreciate advice on how best to lay the paving, or should I avoid it altogether and just stick with gravel? I've come across 3 different options: (a) lay the paving onto a concrete slab with rebar; (b) lay the paving as normal but put the pergola at least 2ft down; (c) as long as the base is more than 3 times the width of the tree trunks it'll be OK. We'll obviously be cutting out any roots prior to laying the slab.This is one of my first landscaping jobs (am also laying a large patio, greenhouse, another seating area, vegetable garden, gravel garden at the same house) and definitely don't want to miss anything obvious!Thanks so much (thank gawd for LJN!)

Replies

Kieran Ray March 1, 2010 at 7:39pm

As its a woody area how about bark?

For the patio its a tuffie, id go with option a for the patio even though it will be very pricey! The pergola would have to be bedded at least 600mm in the ground anyway.

Hope this helps.
simon powell March 1, 2010 at 9:14pm

more workto get leaves up when they fall onto chippings
Angela Palmerton March 1, 2010 at 9:21pm

Thanks, good advice chaps. We were all concerned about the leaves dropping onto bark/gravel as well, and in fact I suggested they might just stick with grass which I think is more natural given the surroundings, but they're really keen on some kind of hardstanding so I said I'd check it out. I'd just hate to have them coming back in x years time saying 'oh my god the patio is breaking up'. I suppose all I can do is give them the lowdown and leave the ultimate choice to them? Unless you've any other ideas?

And just to say I really value all this advice - it's making me feel much less overwhelmed --- hope I can repay at some point
Angela Palmerton March 1, 2010 at 9:37pm

Can't believe I didn't think of that Karl! Would be good to chat to you to get a cost comparison --- tmrw late afternoon anygood?

Karl Harrison said:
I would recommend Millboard decking laid in a rased format so you would't get any creap from the roots.

easier to install and probably cheaper

It wont rot, its non slip, etc etc and so on

chers

Karl
http://www.exteriordecking.co.uk/synthetic.php
Angela Palmerton March 1, 2010 at 9:41pm

Great, look forward to catching up with you tmrw then

Karl Harrison said:
Anytime is good for me
cheers
Karl

Angela Palmerton said:
Can't believe I didn't think of that Karl! Would be good to chat to you to get a cost comparison --- tmrw late afternoon anygood?

Karl Harrison said:
I would recommend Millboard decking laid in a rased format so you would't get any creap from the roots.

easier to install and probably cheaper

It wont rot, its non slip, etc etc and so on

chers

Karl
http://www.exteriordecking.co.uk/synthetic.php
Andy Thorne March 2, 2010 at 12:00am

---"We'll obviously be cutting out any roots prior to laying the slab"---

I hope not!!!
The roots near the surface are vitally important to maintain the integrity of the tree. Remove them and the tree becomes very susceptible to wind damage, I would not risk touching the roots on those trees - imagine if you caused one of them to drop in the next storm!??!

Best idea so far is definately the decking :)